John s



(No Model.) I

J. S. OROTTY. CORSET STIFFENER.

No. 573,570. Patented Dec. 22, 1896.

il 9 I INVENTOR I WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS.

n1: norms PETERS co. woroumo ASHINGTON n c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN S. CROTTY, OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.

CORSET-STIFFEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,570, dated December 22, 1896.

Application filed September 26, 1895. Serial No. 563,790. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN S. OROTTY, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new Improvement in Stiffeners for Corsets, &c.; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

In the manufacture .of corsets it has been common to sew together the outer and inner facings of corset material upon parallel lines of stitching, so as to form pockets in which stiffeners are inserted longitudinally. In other instances covering-strips have been applied to the corset fabric and stitched thereto at the opposite edges to form pockets in which the stifieners are inserted. After the insertion in either case the ends of the pockets are closed by the edge binding of the corset. There are objections to this method of manufacture, as, for instance, the stiffeners are loose and can have a certain amount of play, which detracts from the stiffness of the corset, the ends are unprotected and are apt to wear through the corset fabric, and it is not advantageous to employ in some instances certain classes of stiffening-blades, as, for instance, those made of thin metal. To 'overcome these objections, I provide the blades with casings extending beyond the ends or one or more of the side edges and the ends of the blades, the casing consisting of a single piece of fabric folded lengthwise and slitted at its opposite ends, forming end pieces which are folded in opposite directions over the ends of the blades and reinforcing the ends of the casings, and I stitch these casings be tween the outer and inner faces of the corset by lines of stitching, which may also serve as means for aiding in retaining the blades within the casings, as fully set forth hereinafter and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a face view of one end of a corset-section embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the character of the strip used for making the casingof a blade. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view illus trating the manner in which the casing is folded at the ends. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and '7 are stiffeners or the clasp-steels or under busksteels. These blades instead of being uncovered, as usual, are inclosed within casings C. These casings are formed by folding a single strip or piece of fabric upon itself, so as to inclose the blade or blades, of which there may be any desired number, with intervening spaces. In such case cement is applied to the fabric, so as to cement the same at both sides to the blades and cement together the opposite sides of the fabric where they are in contact beyond the blades.

In the case of a casing being made for each blade a way of making the casing consists in taking a long strip 0, Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, of more than double the width of the blade X, cutting two slits a as diagonally from opposite corners, then laying the blade upon the pasted or cemented face of the strip, as shown in Fig. 2, and the latter is then folded upon itself along its central longitudinal line y, after first folding down the triangular section a beyond one end of the blade, the other triangular section a being folded in under the other end of the blade. The projecting portion 7) at each end is then folded over, as shownin Figs. 5 and 6, after whichthe triangular flap at the end of said portion is folded sidewiseonto the body of the casing, as shown in Fig. 7, the parts being cemented together in this position, thereby fully inclosing the blade, leaving two flexible portions of the casing at opposite edges of the blade with two thicknesses of material beyond each end of the blade and four thicknesses of material adjacent to the ends.

The slots 9; 00 maybe cut in the ends of the casing in any direction, diagonally, as shown, or parallel with the longer edge of the strip, and along the line of the fold when the strip is folded lengthwise upon itself. Any form of slits which will leave two integral pieces at each end of the casing, which pieces can be folded in opposite directions over the ends of the blade, will be within my invention.

Vhen there are two or more blades, they are arranged upon one portion of the mate- ISO of the steels, and, if desired, between the steels when there is more than one steel in a casing, and along one side of the steel when the latter is the hook or other fastening steel, as shown in Fig. 1. By this means each stiifener is firmly secured in place between the fabrics of the corset and prevented from either longitudinal orlateral movement. \Vhen the casing is folded about the ends of the blades as described or otherwise reinforced or thickened at the ends, the wearing of the ends through the fabric of the corset is prevented, and the corset is made so much stiffer and firmer that I can use much lighter stiffening-blades than would otherwise be required, thereby securing greater flexibility and greater stiffness with less thickness and less weight.

lVithout limiting myself to the precise construction shown, I claim as my invention 1. A stilfener for corsets, &c., comprising a stiffening-blade and a covering consisting of a single strip of fabric folded lengthwise upon itself, with the blade lying within the fold, said folded strip of fabric being longer than the blade and being slitted at opposite ends of the covering projecting beyond the blade, forming two integral end pieces at each end of the covering, one of each pair of 40 end pieces being folded directly over the end of the blade, and the other of each pair of end pieces folded over the previously-folded end piece, substantially as described.

2. A stifiener for corsets, &c., comprising a stiifening-blade and a covering consisting of a single strip of fabric folded lengthwise upon itself, with the blade lying within the fold, said folded strip of fabric being longer than the blade and being slitted diagonally at diagonally opposite corners of the covering projecting beyond the blade, forming two integral end pieces at each end of the covering, one of each pair of end pieces being folded directly over the end of the blade, and the other of each pair of end pieces folded over the previously-folded end piece, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib- 6: ing witnesses.

JOHN SvOROTTY.

lVitnesses:

FRED C. EARLE, LILLIAN D. KELSEY. 

